Chilean m51

[tomhugill]

Hey folks,

Onto the next project, one that's been brewing a good few years. I've been slowly assembling the parts for this and now I've got the other stuff that was on the list done it's time for another m51.

This one's going to huge parts from all over, tamiya chassis and turret, Nick Aguillar cast hull and tranismission cover, engine deck, exhaust, rear stowage bin turret bits and mg mount from Woz, dklm antenna, schumo travel lock, side bins, telephone box and engine hatch. From east coast armory, aux generator exhaust, spare wheel holders, grab handle, gunners optic.

Not fully decided on electrics but stian was working on a Clark soundset so will probably go that route.

So far I've added the new engine deck and assembled the travel lock (which was a bit of an ordeal)


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[c.rainford73]

Love the engine deck and exhaust details. Will the exhaust system be functional? Sorry if I've missed it.

[tomhugill]

Love the engine deck and exhaust details. Will the exhaust system be functional? Sorry if I've missed it.

Hey Carl, it could be with some extra plumbing, but I don't really go in for smokers.

Im hoping this should be a fairly straight forward build as I've got most of the parts. Think the rotation could be challenging though!

[tomhugill]

Before I get much further on the detail need to get the mechanicals squared away.

First job is the rotation. The resin upper is designed for the Sherman 105 turret ring and gubbins. Unfortunately whilst the m51 turret fits the rings all wrong. I didn't want to go for the smaller 105 ring so needed to make some changes. First attempt was make some smaller guide wheels. It sort of worked but not well enough for my liking. Considered a lash up with the HL ring but I didn't have a rotation or correct size ring, doh. I'd have still needed mods unless the ring was a perfect fit.

On my attempt I've used styrene to widen the bit of the turret that fits through the inner HL, wasn't quite perfect so I've also added a jockey roller next to the recoil to make sure it and the turret ring mesh perfectly. On my m50 I was able to get rid of the restraining tabs, however after a couple rotations on this the turret would sometimes pop up and away from the rotation so these were added back.

The rotation unit had to be moved as it didnt line up with the larger ring. I've kept it at the front of the tank as it fits over the gearboxes and if placed round the back it limits the size of speaker box. The cable tie round the rotation keeps things together and helps stop slipage. Hopefully I'll be able to get one of the 3d printed covers which do the same job whilst looking a lot neater!

Elevation is standard tamiya with a metal arm. Probably going to go servo recoil but will fit the standard till I get the linkages sorted.

Also I've fitted the resin transmission cover, much better!



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[tomhugill]

Going back to the detail now the rotation is sorted.

First job was to add the brush guards, fairly straight forward, to add the front fenders I combined the HVSS brushguards with the narrower resin vvss fenders the upper hull came with, I need to extend the rib which runs across but that's fairly straight forward with some half round styrene.


I've added the schumo brush guard supports, very nicely detailed



The (ex) IDF Sherman's have a lot of external furniture which is one of the reasons Im a big fan. On previous models this has necessitated a lot of scratch building or 3d printed parts. Happily this time I was able to obtain more of the schumo parts than before, including the elusive stowage bins. The brackets are fragile with bit of sprue, but some gentle persuasion with a new stanley knife blade saw me right.





East coast armoury does a really nice range of isherman accessories ostensibly for the M50 but many fit the m51 too.

I'm using the spare wheel holders, aux generator, exhaust, grab handle and gunners scope optics. The parts are reasonably priced and nicely moulded



The m51 due to its engine upgrade has a different rear end to the normal m4a1. The overhang is deepened where the air filters were. This was done with styrene and there will be a weld between the cast and sheet sections. The rear of the lower hull is also different. Schumo did a conversion but sadly I've only one of these (which is going on the other one). I've used the still available 105 Sherman back plate with some schumo doors and a scratch built blanking plate where the exhaust came out on the early m51. I only had one tow hook holder so the other was scratched from styrene sheet.



The stowage bin from Woz has had acrylic resin to fill the worst surface on the bottom, and several coats of Mr surfacer 500 sanded back to fill in the ridges. Because of the limitations of 3d printing the inside faces are quite rough, I'll probably fill the bin with stowage to obscure this, but I'm planning to add the top of the tubular frame of the bin.



One of the other distinctive features of IDF tanks is the bountiful provision of Jerry can holders. There are a few options here (east coast and shapeways both decent bets). However I was lucky enough to obtain the last 4 schumo sets from Axel's, which have resin Jerry cans and photo etch holders. These are beautifully detailed with etch retaining straps and are surprisingly robust.



Lastly a very unique feature of the chillean m51 is the provision of a 30cal commanders machine gun on a scissor mount. Woz kindly designed and printed me a couple of these. The quality is exquisite and the resin is quite ductile which should make it less susceptible to damage. The 30cal is one from nick Aguilar, I still need to scratch built the magazine holder for it.



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[Ad Lav]

Great start.

Got to love an M51! Sad to be selling mine

[tomhugill]

Morning folks, some more progress over the weekend.

First job was the drivers hatches, these were hinged to open and scope guards and scope holders added




Next up I added the flap on the exhaust. The intention was to have it hinged but the printed resin proved too brittle to drill.





The missing bits on the turret were added, smoke dischargers, grab rail at the rear and the spare track link holder. The bustle stowage box I got from Woz was a little short so I stretched it with styrene. The grab rail.was cut back to accommodate this. The 50 cal mount off the turret roof was removed too. I added fine chain to the caps on the smoke dischargers. I also added a dklm antenna base and antenna.
The track links had.beem removed from the holders when I bought it so I had to had some back in. I used ones spare off a Pershing sprue but had to remove the guide horn and replace with brass rod.






I recycled some etch grills to add grills on the air intakes



I added a cover to the siren guard, how ever I've learnt the siren was replaced with a blackout light so this will need to be ammended. The styrenes probably a little thick so I'll use thin brass sheet next time.







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[tomhugill]

Hey folks,

Been a bit tardy with the updates but been chipping away at this build.

First thing was adding the hull fittings, lifting hoops, light guards etc. These are the standard tamiya items, happily all on the one sprue.



Next up was finishing the 30cal. On the chillean tank this has a unique looking magazine, this was made from sheet styrene. The gun was proper attached to the mount with stops added to prevent too much movement.











Next up are mounts for something, these were added on the latter Israeli m51 with the turret bustle stowage. I've seen the chillean ones uses them for small logs but not sure what their purpose is.

These were done with sheet brass, the tie downs are off the jerry can holder PE fret. I originally did the legs from styrene but they were a bit flimsy and kept comming off. I redid it with brass rod and drilled through to make a stronger joint (and more accurate looking). Holes were drilled into the hull so these are rock solid now.

;

Added some proper tie downs to the turret roof (tanks Dean!), Proper handle on the commanders hatch and a bit of interior detail







Next up is the tools. The tamiya ones are the best I've found, I've made some mounts for some of the bits from sheet and brass tube.



Straps for the jerry cans and their tie downs added. Learnt my lesson from previous m51/50 and drilled holes for them.



The exhaust was next, I found some better references showing how the shroud was mounted. It's a a fair bit different to the printed one so I decided to have a go. Sheet brass, lots of measuring, punching and drilling holes...and it looked completely wrong.



Back to the drawing board...



Looking better, let's see how it is flat. Only 230 odd holes!



Last up is the stowage bin. I have a printed one which was decent but I thought I could do it more accurately. First job was making the end pieces of styrene, then the frames for these from brass rod. These were glued together, then the cross members added and finally the square panels. I made the wrench holer from aluminium rod, brass pin and some fine chain. The cleaning rod holders were strip styrene.



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[tomhugill]

This builds been stalled for a while whilst I was waiting for parts from east coast armoury (ordered in October!). They arrived yesterday so I could crack on. For this I had the infantry telephone and the blackout light on order but afew more parts for other builds.

The blackout light replaces the siren. With a little bit of rework fits nicely.

The crew phones a really nice piece. Some of the bits it came with seemed a little confusing compared to the schumo one. A look at prime portal shows it attaches via 4 supports, drilled into the rear plate. I also added the cable for the phone, I'll probably be the only one to see it but hey ho!

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[tomhugill]

I've also added servo recoil using a tamiya recoil with bits removed and servo added

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